Binder post



July23, 1940. w R KUN 2,208,943

BINDER POST Filed Dec. 2, 1939 INVEN TOR.

UNITED STATES PA ENT. OFFlCE,

BINDER POST p William R. Kline, Brooklyn, N. Y. I i Application December 2, 1939, Serial No. 307,196

3 Claims.

This invention relates to hinder posts, and moresparticularlyto a post of this kind adapted forruse in'securing loose leaf record sheets within binder covers for dead storage purposes.

, In many business establishments, the practice for years has been to keep, records of transactions, upon separate leaves of paper, either loose leaves or leaves bound in a current work binder.

At stated intervals, these leaves are removed I fromtthecurrent work binder and are mounted in what is generally termed a permanent binder in which they may be stored away over long periods of time. This time may vary according to the practice of the different business concerns in connection with the saving of old records, but ageneral practice is to keep all records for a period of at least six years, the ordinary period of thestatute of limitations.

; The number of leavesto be thus bound for deadstorage varies asto each book, and the binder posts used are so constructed as to adjust themselves in length to accommodate theposts to books of different thicknesses. Furthermore,

thepractice has been to provide binder posts of different lengths to accommodate-books having substantially different thicknesses.

Prior to my invention, in books so bound, the binder posts were permanently locked in relation to the covers of the book and the bound leaves, and when the posts were, once assembled in the completed book, it was impossible to remove any, leaf from the binding except by tearing it. Hence, when it was desired to destroy the leaves, it was necessary to chisel or file heads from the posts inorderto permit the removal of the leaves in a,manner to enable them to be destroyed by being, burned in a furnace or torn up before being thrown into the scrap papermbaling machine. t i

A common form of binder post used in connection with the making up ,of permanently boundlbooks for dead storage, consisted of two similar,half-round headed parts, the flat portion ofeach part having ratchet teeth adapted to interlock withoppositely set ratchet teeth upon the other part. Other means for permanently and automatically locking the two parts of binder posts have also been used.

With all'these posts, however, when binding the leaves, one part was inserted in openings through one cover board and the leaves, and the other part was inserted in openings through the other board and the same openings in the leaves as the first part, and forcibly driven longitudinally so that the pressure of the leaves upon the two parts caused the automatic engagenientjjof v leaves was simple, but greatdifiiculty was ex perienced when it was desired to destroy" the bound leaves. The removal of the binding involved the destruction of a part of each binder post and prevented a re-use of the post. The inability to remove the binder posts prevented the removal of any leaves'in the even of error in forming the book, or the later addition of leaves which, at the expiration of a given period, showed incomplete transactions precluding their being included in the permanent binding at the time of making up the dead record book.

With the above conditions i in mind, I I have provided binder posts for use in-the making up of dead storage books of loose leaf records, wherein after the covers of the bookhave been tightly secured upon the leaves by means of pernianently interlocked sectionalbinder posts, said posts maybe removed from the book intheir entirety and replaced in the book to permit leaves bound in the book to be removed andreplac'ed, or additional leaves to be included in the b'ookL' The securing means between the two comple mentary parts of the binder post consists of ratchet teeth upon a fiat portion of one part adapted to be engaged by oppositely set ratchet teeth upon the other part.

some looseness in the covers by the inabilityto impart movement to one of the post parts sufli cient to cause the engagement of the ratchet teeth in a manner to avoid relative movementpf the two parts approximating the length of a ratchet 'tooth, means, however, being provided whereby any silghtlooseness due to an" improper engagement of the co-operating ratohet'teeth or other interlocking members may be taken upby imparting a reverse longitudinal'movement of one part in relationto'th'e othe'r'and to' the book cover. By'this'construction, a reduction or an increase in the length of the two interlockedpost parts may be efiected to securethe desired engaging relation of the interlocking'members to form a tight binding. l

The invention consists primarily in a bin der,

The length of these teeth may be such as would ordinarily permit post embodying therein two complementary, halfround binder post parts, the fiat portions of said parts having ratchet teeth formed thereon, the teeth uponone part being oppositely set in relation to those upon the other, whereby when applying posts to a book, one of said parts may have longitudinal movement relatively to the other, and said ratchet teeth will automatically engage each other to prevent reverse relative movement of said parts,one of saidparts having a head adapted to engage the cover of a book, and the other of said parts having a screw threaded end and an interiorly screw threaded head adjustably mounted thereon, whereby with the removal of said head, both of said parts may be removed from a book, and with adjustment of said head, any lost motion between the ratchet teeth of said parts may be compensated for; and in such other novel features of construction and combination of parts as are hereinafter set forth and described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

Referring to the drawing, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one of the part of a binder post embodying the invention having an adjustable head thereon;

Fig. 2 is a section onthe line 22 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is an edge View of a bound book with a portion thereof, shown in section, showing a binder post embodying the invention applied to the book.

7 Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in the accompanying drawing, the book covers are shown at 4 and the leaves of the dead record bound between same at 5. The. covers 4 each have extending therethrough, an opening 6, and the leaves have corresponding openings ll. As shown, the bound book has no back board.

The thicknesses of different bound books vary, such thicknessesranging from an inch or two to five or six inches, and binder posts used in connecting the covers and the leaves are so constructed as to automatically adjust themselves in length to different thicknesses of books within a wide range, although different lengths of posts are used to cover the entire range of thicknesses of books which may be bound by means of these posts.

In the drawing, each post, and any desired number of such posts may be used in binding the book, is shown as being composed of two parts L 8 and 9, each formed of a half-round, hard metal rod. Along the flat face of each part is a sequence of ratchet teeth In or .I l, reversely or oppositely set so as to permit one part to pass the other when it is forced within the collated leaves, and

the ratchet teeth thereon to interlock with the ratchet teeth upon the other part as a result of the resistance encountered when driving one part through the leaves.

The radius of each part is substantially equal to the radius of the openings 6 and I through the covers and through the leaves, the binder posts as a whole thus having a driving fit within these openings. 7

Binder posts having the above characteristics L are old and well known in this art, and have been used for many years. Hence, my invention is not limited to these characteristics in the device, since other automatically acting locking means permitting longitudinal adjustment of two binder post parts, may be employed.

Prior to my invention, each binder post part had an enlarged head formed integrally therewith, which engaged the cover when the heads of the two parts were closed upon the covers. Since the locking of the two parts together resulted from their engagement with each other as a result of the movement of one of these parts in relation to the other in one direction, it is obvious that neither part could be reversely moved to permit the removal of the posts in relation to either cover or the leaves in the bound book. It is also obvious that to secure a tight binding of the leaves and the covers, it was necessary that the thickness of the book be such as to permit each ratchet tooth upon one binder post part to fully pass the co-operating tooth upon the other part, when the leaves and the cover had been compressed to their maximum extent. If the teeth overrode each other a distance slightly less than the length of a tooth, but not enough to pass that tooth and snap into engagement with the adjoining tooth, there would be looseness in the binding, due to a lost motion equal to substantially the full length of a tooth.

To permit the separation of the cover and leaves at will, and also to obviate the difficulty of lost motion by reason of looseness in the-relation of the co -operating locking means carried by the two binder post parts, I provide either or both parts with a removable and an adjustable head.

In the accompanying drawing, although only one of the binder post parts need have such a head, I have shown both parts as being similarly constructed. The part 8 is provided with a cylindrical, screw threaded end portion or stud l2, slightly smaller in diameter than the diameter of the two parts when assembled in a bound book, and the part 9 is provided with a similar screw threaded cylindrical portion or stud l3.

Mounted upon the screw threaded portion or stud I2 is an interiorly screw threaded head M in the form of an ordinary nut, while mounted upon the stud I3 is a similar interiorly screw threaded head [5, also in the form of an ordinary nut. The construction shown in the drawings was adopted-because an ordinary nut is cheaper than a screw cap or a screw threaded thimble having an enlarged head.

The operation of a binder post embodying the invention is substantially as follows: 7

When it is desired to place records in dead storage, leaves are removed from an ordinary working binder and placed between covers 4 having openings 6 therein. Ordinarily the various leaves 5 will have openings l punched therein before being removed from theworking binder, but if the leaves are not so punched, it will be necessary to punch holes therethrough, and to locate these holes in a position corresponding with the openings 6.

One of the posts, as 8, is then passed upwardly through the openings 6 and 1 until its head, the nut M, engages the lower cover A, and the other post part 9 is passed downwardly through the openings 5 of the top cover! of said leaves, and a mallet or hammer is used to drive this post part past the post part 8. Since the diameter of the two post parts is slightly smaller than the. diameter of the openings 6 and 1, the two parts 8 and 8 may have relative movement to permit the ratchet teeth l0 and II to pass each other, although such movement of both post parts is resisted by the material of the leaves. Hence,

immediately that the teeth It] pass the teeth H, the post parts are forced toward each other to cause the interlocking of said teeth.

If it be found that there is lost motion between the two post parts because of an improper interlocking of the teeth, an ordinary wrench may be used to force either or both nuts I l-l toward the book covers and thus impart a reverse movement to one or both post parts 8-9 until the teeth are in proper engaging relation. In this manner, the effective length of each post part may be varied after a post has been assembled in the binder. Either or both parts may be lengthened or shortened as desired, according to the amount of play which may be present, whichever is more convenient.

The chief advantage of binder posts embodying the invention, however, resides in the fact that,

with the construction described, the binder posts may be removed from the book at any time to permit the removal of leaves bound therein, the

addition of leaves, or the destruction of the dead record either by mutilation or burning of the leaves.

The removal of the posts is accomplished by removing one head, such as 15, from the rounded screw threaded portion or stud l3, and then driving the assembled post completely through the book. When this has been done, the two post parts will automatically become separated, and by restoring the head IE to its screw threaded portion or stud I3, the posts may be restored to the book after leaves have been removed or added, or used in binding other leaves with the same or new covers if the leaves are to be destroyed.

It is obvious that the binder post embodying the invention must be composed of two parts and that these parts must haveco-operating automatically acting interlocking members which engage each other when inserting the posts in the collated leaves, and it is not my intention to limit the invention to any particular construction of these two parts insofar as the interlocking mechanism is concerned.

The adjustability and removability of the head of one or both of these binder post parts, however, is essential to the invention, since it is this structural characteristic which permits variance in the length of a binder post part after it has been engaged with its co-operating binder post part within the collated leaves of a book, and the disengagement of the binder post from the leaves for the purposes above referred to.

It is, therefore, not my intention to limit the invention to the precise details of construction shown in the accompanying drawing, it being apparent that such may be varied in the respects noted without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to have protected by Letters Patent, is:

1. A binder post embodying therein two complementary half-round post parts, the flat portions of said parts having ratchet teeth formed thereon, the teeth upon one part being oppositely set in relation to those upon the other, whereby when applying posts to a book, one of said parts may have longitudinal movement relatively to the other, and said ratchet teeth will automatically engage each other to' prevent reverse relative movement of said parts, one of said parts having a head adapted to engage the cover of a book, and the other of said parts having a screw threaded end and an interiorly screw threaded head adjustably mounted thereon, whereby with the removal of said head, both of said parts may be removedfrom a book, and with adjustment of said head, any lost motion between the ratchet teeth of said parts may be compensated for.

Z. A binder post embodying therein two complernentary half-round post parts, the flat portions of said parts having ratchet teeth formed thereon, the teeth upon one part being oppositely set in relation to those upon the other, whereby when applying posts to a book, one of said parts may have longitudinal movement relatively to the other, and said ratchet teeth will automatically engage each other to prevent reverse relative movement of said parts, each of said parts having a screw threaded end and an interiorly screw threaded head adjustably mounted thereon, whereby with the removal of either of said heads, both of said parts may be removed from a book, and with adjustment of either of said heads, any lost motion between the ratchet teeth of said parts may be compensated for.

3. A binder post embodying therein two complementary half-round binder post parts, the flat portions of said parts having ratchet teeth formed thereon, the teeth upon one part being oppositely set in relation to those upon the other, whereby when applying posts to a book, one of said parts may have longitudinal movement relatively to the other, and said ratchet teeth will automatically engage each other to prevent reverse relative movement of said parts, each of said parts having a screw threaded end andanut adjustably mounted thereon, whereby with the removal of either of said nuts, both of said parts may be removed 

